The Church: What if we could SEE Mental Illness?

I have a friend named Lauri.  Lauri has bipolar disorder, an illness she manages quite well.  She is also a Christian who struggles not with her faith, but with how friends in the faith "deal" with her illness.  After being an active part of a women's prayer group / ministry for two years, Lauri felt it was time; time to disclose her illness to her faithful friends.

At first no one knew how to respond.  Eventually individuals began to speak up, but not how she expected.  First someone admonished her for "listening to the devil."  Someone else informed Lauri that she simply wasn't trusting God and was choosing to think on negative things. And yes, someone told her that she was being controlled by her emotions, and that was sin.  Then came the obligatory casting out of demons.  After this love in, they never spoke of her illness again.

Fast forward 9 months.  Lauri came to the group and shared some horrifying news.  Cancer.  Specifically, breast cancer was the diagnosis.  She asked for prayer and her group was wonderful.  Prayers flowed, prayers of healing, prayers of peace, prayers of comfort.  One by one the women in her group shared encouraging Bible verses about God's love, His goodness, His power and His healing.  It was wonderful.

The next day group members stopped by Lauri's house.  They brought her a cake.

Mental illness?  Let's cast out a demon.  Cancer?  Here's a cake!

Why do churches, and Christians, have such a difficult time ministering to those with mental issues.  We can pray for the "sick", serve the homeless, bring God's love to foreign countries, but we're so afraid of the mentally ill.  We can't control them.  We think they are just making bad decisions.  They're just need to get their life together.  We may not say it, but we think, "suck it up, cupcake!"

What if we could SEE mental illness?  

What if we could see it as we do a broken arm or blunt force trauma?  Would we act differently?  Would our faith show itself differently?  Would we pray differently?

In truth, most people, especially believers, just want to be loved accepted and understood as much as possible.  

God loves them.  He sees their potential.  He embraces them, and listens to them.  

As the church, are we scared of dealing with people who suffer mental illness?   Can we learn to love, minister and serve those with mental illness, as Jesus would?